WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Alone Against the Tower ◈
Chapter 99: Lookalikes
──────
I wondered why the fluctuations in Eleanor's mana felt so familiar.
I wanted death, but Eleanor wanted life. She had not let go of a single desire I had cast aside.
Her eyes had always looked up at distant stars, and her lips had always spoken of dreams.
Race, gender, personality, habits, self. In every way, she was my complete opposite.
So what had made Eleanor, who had been so different, become so familiar, so much like a walking corpse like me?
Non-Player Character. NPC.
What was there to think about? Eleanor had been dead from the beginning. I had only realized that now.
“My people died long ago. There wasn't a single day when they were alive. What does it matter if they die now?”
Eleanor pressed herself close to me and continued in a trembling voice.
“That serpent must be part of the trial you face, the final enemy of your quest. Then won't it all end once you subjugate it?”
I hadn't known she was someone who could make that expression, say those words, and cry like this.
“Our lives are nothing but empty shells, and they will end with that thing. Is it really so strange to throw everything away and wish that at least I could live?”
Eleanor shouted. A dull pain rose somewhere in my chest.
It was a pain I knew, but could not name because I did not know what to call it.
All I could do was hurt, press a hand to my chest, and endure.
“I... know. No matter how hard you try to deny it, I saw what was in your heart. I know that you love me.”
“It may not be the same way I love you, but you suffered because we are not alive. There must have been some form of love.”
“Give up the quest and choose me. Then we can stay together until the very end. You only have to decide.”
After I had agonized over it again and again, Eleanor placed before me the choice I had painfully turned away from.
A chance to reclaim the desire I had abandoned. Perhaps my last chance to find happiness.
Could there be any temptation sweeter than this? I had worked hard to avoid it, but I definitely loved Eleanor...
“You intend to die once you leave the Tower, don't you?”
Her next words felt like a hammer striking my head. Eleanor knew me better than I had thought.
“You have always wished for death. But you could not do it because you had the goal of meeting your mother. Then isn't it obvious?”
“Once you leave the Tower and meet your mother, you intend to die.”
“But even while thinking that, didn't you want to be happy? Wasn't there a desire you could not throw away? It must surely be here.”
Eleanor placed a hand on my chest, where that nameless dull pain had kept rising.
“Pull out the stake tormenting you. Let us be happy together, in a world of only us.”
At last, Eleanor buried her face in my chest. I slowly raised my hand.
If I wrapped my arms around Eleanor's shoulders like this, it would be over.
An irreversible final choice. Could I be happy if I chose Eleanor?
Living with Eleanor would surely be joyful. The brief time we had spent together on the seventh floor alone had caused me this much hesitation.
Even if something painful happened, we could surely overcome it together. No matter how exhausted we became, we could surely laugh together.
But that would mean abandoning Mom. It would surely hurt. There was no way I could forgive trash like Seo Jinhyeok.
Still, wouldn't it be the same even if I left the Tower? How could I forgive myself?
“I...”
After long deliberation, the trashy, pathetic Seo Jinhyeok reached out his hand to embrace Eleanor's shoulders.
* * *
My outstretched hand stopped just before it could fully wrap around her shoulders.
Just a little farther. One centimeter. But this fucking idiot could not choose, even at the very last moment.
This was who I was. A pathetic, worthless, shut-in unemployed loser, Seo Jinhyeok.
Afraid of the result of the choice I had reached after agonizing over it, I chose not to choose anything. What remained was Eleanor's choice.
If Eleanor moved first, if she took one more step toward me, then I would definitely accept her.
At the very last moment, I shoved the choice onto her. And Eleanor answered.
“Yes, I see.”
Eleanor looked at my hesitant hand, smiled bitterly, and took one step back.
“That final hesitation must be your choice. One hundred and twenty years ago, I could have been satisfied with that hesitation alone.”
As she spoke, she took two steps back. Leaving me behind, still hesitating, Eleanor chose to give up.
Of course. She wouldn't want to live with someone as indecisive and pathetic as me. It was only natural. It was wise.
“Do not misunderstand. I was no different from you. After living another hundred years, it seems I became like you.”
“No. I'm the idiot here. What part of me could you possibly resemble?”
“I was weak, so I forced a difficult decision upon you. Asking you to choose between your mother and me... I was too cruel.”
Clear tears flowed from Eleanor's eyes as she took three steps back. She spoke as though she were fine, but her expression was honest.
“I have a duty as well. The duty I inherited when I wore this crown. Even if they are empty shells without souls... I must protect my people.”
“Thanks to your hesitation, I came to my senses instead. I acted selfishly toward both my people and you.”
“I am bound to the Tower, so I tried to bind you to this Tower as well. Though I knew I should not, I still said it once.”
Eleanor roughly wiped away her tears with her sleeve. Yes, we really were alike. We shared the same wound.
The vow not to stop, no matter how painful or difficult it became.
As Queen, Eleanor had driven that same vow into her heart. Her mana surged in the same form as mine.
“You... must go meet your mother.”
After reaching the same conclusion through the same agonizing thoughts, we chose to part.
* * *
I had never been so grateful that my Mana Enhancement drew its strength from the Pendant.
Mana was affected by one's state of mind and wavered with it, so it was only natural that I could not use Mana Enhancement in my current state.
Having wiped away her tears, Eleanor returned to being the Queen of the Dark Elves. She would give everything she had to subjugate the Serpent Dragon.
I had to answer that resolve as well. I would not hesitate to fight because of my feelings. I would fight with everything I had.
[Until World Boss Raid Resumes: 00'06'24]
Six minutes remained until the Serpent Dragon could act again. The weapon placements and all other preparations had been completed.
Bwooooo!
Along with the horn signaling the start of the operation, the deployed Magic Cannon units and Mages began acting at once.
“Fire!”
After receiving several layers of buffs, mana shells and ballista bolts were fired at the Serpent Dragon, which had five minutes left before it could resume activity.
A raid did not have to begin only after the countdown ended.
By striking a boss guarded by lesser monsters first, it was possible to begin the battle at the desired time.
And with bombardment methods like these, we could begin by landing a powerful attack right off the bat.
The Community had advised me to attack first with maximum firepower when exactly five minutes remained.
Boom! Kaboom! Kaboomb!
The weapons fired in unison mercilessly battered the Serpent Dragon's entire body. The awakened serpent screamed.
So securing firepower really was important. Its power and effectiveness were better than I had imagined.
Now it was my turn to move. After confirming that the items I had prepared were properly in my Inventory, I stepped onto the magic circle.
“Good fortune to you.”
I nodded at the Mage handling the transfer. As the magic activated, I was thrown into the sky.
I was not the only one transferred into the air. Mercedes and the High Elves' elite knights were there as well.
There were also the Kingdom Army's elite forces and their greatest combat power, the Legion Commander, along with the Reconnaissance Team's aces and Eleanor.
We had become a special assault unit meant to attack the Serpent Dragon's vital points directly.
Still, I did not think we would be able to land easily on the thrashing Serpent Dragon's body. I hoped the operation would work.
Kiriiriing!
At that moment, enormous chains rose from the ground along with a tremendous torrent of mana. It was magic our side had prepared in advance.
The Dark Elves' Shadow Magic focused more on support, such as binding, than direct combat.
Because of that, when that branch was properly developed, it could achieve remarkable results. The Community had verified this as well.
Many Challengers had searched tirelessly and found the Shadow Magic skill with the strongest binding effect.
I shared the skill I had learned of, allowing the Mages to reinterpret it and build it into a large-scale spell.
Normally, this was not something that could be achieved in a short time. We solved the missing pieces by crazily pouring in materials such as Magic Stones.
Naturally, those materials came from my Inventory. A one-time binding spell that consumed an enormous amount of resources.
I had worried whether it would work even against a World Boss, but fortunately, it seemed to have worked. Now all we had to do was land.
Graaahhh!
The chained Serpent Dragon roared. Mana carried in its roar spread out and crushed the surrounding terrain.
But the elites here were unfazed by an attack of that level. They were elites among elites, the strongest among the strong.
Ting! Ting!
We each deflected the black mana bullets fired from the Serpent Dragon's entire body in our own ways and landed on its body.
Eleanor gave up her happiness and declared that she would protect her people, even if they were only hollow existences.
I understood better than anyone how painful that choice was, because I had made the same choice.
So I would support that choice in the best way I could.
I was an indecisive, pathetic fucking idiot, but because of that, there was one thing I had become good at.
“Our goal is a Perfect Clear.”
Never stopping. Crushing the obstacles blocking my path. Tearing enemies apart and killing them in extreme situations.
I swore I would part with you and climb the Tower, so I will make sure to do at least that much.
Rumble!
I activated Mana Enhancement and drove my sword into the Serpent Dragon's thick scales.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
